Laugh till you cry, ingest caffeine, stand under running water
Updated: Nov 13, 2021
5 months in and the below have saved my sanity!
Laughter really is the best medicine. Funny memes, reels, tiktoks etc have seriously helped me mentally cope. Often something won't be that funny but I'm so delirious it'll make me laugh till I cry and it becomes a cathartic experience 🙈.
Being part of an online community. At the start of my pregnancy I downloaded the What to Expect app to help make sense of what the actual fuck was going on in my body - I've found the most useful tool on this app is the community group for mothers due in the same month. It has honestly been a life saver for me throughout pregnancy and the journey of motherhood. I can post questions using an anonymous username and mums from around the world going through the same stage respond. There have been countless times I've been up at 3am, breastfeeding, feeling anxious and alone, ruminating on something and have posted my worry/fear in the group. Almost always multiple women will respond, sometimes relating, sometimes offering kind advice, sometimes just sympathising. It really has been a major part of saving my sanity!
Coffee. Enough said.
NOT going to my mothers group. All of the women were lovely but it just wasn't my jam. Sitting in a group listening to other mums explain their schedules and how their babies sleep through the night hindered rather than helped!
IRL mum friends. I am seriously blessed to have a bunch of close friends who also have babies. These are my kind of people - they get me and no filters are required.
Showers. Especially the ones I can have alone 😂. That shower cubicle is a sweet space of solidarity - wait I lied... cue phantom cries!
Going for a swim. I don't know what it is but there is something about submerging myself in water that is seriously therapeutic.
Baby free friend catchups. This is one that is very rare for me BUT is so needed. I find it really difficult to hold a conversation when I'm with Björn 😅. Having a few hours to catchup with my girlfriends baby free and be able to actually engage properly in conversation makes me feel like me again 🙌.